7News, Keli Rabon rape kit project wins duPont Award

Denver’s 7News and reporter Keli Rabon won a duPont-Columbia Award for a year-long investigation into the failure of police to test thousands of rape kits gathered as evidence. “Colorado Rape Victims: Evidence Ignored, Justice Denied” uncovered systematic failures in the handling of rape cases in Colorado.

Two other stations are also winners of the Silver Baton: WFAA-TV Dallas and reporter Byron Harris will be honored for a relentless two-year long investigative series, “Dentacaid: Medicaid Dental Abuse in Texas,” and WVUE-TV New Orleans and reporter Lee Zurik for “Body of Evidence”, which revealed misuse of public funds, corruption and fraud. WBZ Boston won for breaking news coverage of the Boston marathon bombing. CBS News won for coverage of the Newton mass shootings. ESPN won for investigative reporting for the first time.

For KMGH, this marks the third duPont Award, broadcasting’s equivalent to the Pulitzer. The station won in 2003 for “Honor and Betrayal: Scandal at the Air Force Academy” and again in 2010 for “33 Minutes to 34 Right.” Rabon will be honored with Jason Foster, investigative photographer and editor; Art Kane, executive producer; Jeff Harris, news director; Byron Grandy, vice president and general manager.

Dismissive officials and uncooperative law enforcement agencies didn’t deter Rabon, who hopes the result of her work will be DNA matches to solve cold cases going forward.

KMGH’s investigation revealed that Colorado police departments had failed to test hundreds of rape kits — 44 percent of the 1,064 kits that Denver Police have received since 2008. Gathering dust on police shelves, those untested kits prevent authorities from entering DNA data into a national file that could help identify serial rapists.

What to make of the condescending treatment she received, as a young woman going up against an old boy network, particularly on the subject of sexual violence against women? Is the old TV Barbie stereotype still in play?

“That perception is out there,” she said. She cares less for being on-camera than digging into data.

Joanne Ostrow has been watching TV since before "reality" required quotation marks. "Hill Street Blues" was life-changing. If Dickens, Twain or Agatha Christie were alive today, they'd be writing for television. And proud of it.